


Finally safe

by WinterLioness



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:35:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29524425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterLioness/pseuds/WinterLioness
Summary: In the aftermath of finding out a family secret Buck finds himself going to Eddie. Christopher and Eddie use their Diaz charm to help.
Relationships: buck/eddie
Comments: 4
Kudos: 273





	Finally safe

Eddie is just getting out of the shower, mid toweling off his hair when his phone beeps on the counter. 

Maddie : sorry if I'm waking you, Buck just left here… let me know if he gets there safe? 

Eddie : everything ok?

Maddie : … 

He is about to throw his phone on the bed as Maddie keeps typing and deleting the message, but it beeps again. 

Buck : Is Chris asleep? 

Eddie : yea, you ok? 

He chews on his bottom lip as he dresses, releasing a breath when he hears the front door softly open and close. After the tsunami Buck would often text at weird times to check on Christopher, they didn't talk about Buck's nightmares and he hopes everything going on with his own parents, and seeing a therapist, hasn't reopened old wounds. 

"Hey." Eddie whispers when he sees Buck in his bedroom doorway. Buck is fidgeting, his eyes tracing the patterns of the awful carpet Eddie keeps saying he will replace on a day off. "Buck?" He asks, approaches him slowly, wrapping a hand around his shoulder. It's like Buck was waiting for the simple touch, because he is suddenly using Eddie as support, his tall frame folded to collapse so his face is pushed against Eddie's shoulder as his own shoulders shake with loud sobs. 

"I'm sorry" Buck whimpers, and Eddie just humms softly as he pulls Buck in. Eddie keeps them on their feet just long enough to make it to the bed, and Buck folds into himself even more. 

"What's wrong?" Eddie tries, and Buck pulls away enough to shake his head before tucking his head into his knees and pulling himself even further from Eddie. Eddie adjusts to kneel in front of him, reaches up to brush his fingers along his temples softly. "Are you hurt? Physically?" He tries, letting out a relieved sigh when Buck shakes his head softly, lifting his head just enough to make eye contact. "You're safe here." Eddie promises, but suddenly Buck's looking over his shoulder at the door. 

"I heard crying" Chris says, his head tilted as he yawns.

"It's okay." Eddie promises, "Buck had a bad day and I think he needs a sleepover." He says in a light tone, smiling at Buck's relieved puff of air. 

"You can sleep in my bed." Chris offers, and Buck tries to hold in his tears. 

"I don't think we'd all fit." Eddie teases, wraps his hand around the back of Bucks neck to squeeze reassuringly. "What do you say to a Diaz sleepover?" 

"Okay." Buck whispers, scrambles to grab onto Eddie as he stands. 

"Woah, it's okay." Eddie reassures, runs his fingers against his scalp as Buck mumbles apologies against his ribs. "Hey Chris why don't you get Buck a water bottle from the fridge while I get him some PJs?" Chris looks relieved to be given a task, his crutches echoing down the hall as Eddie pulls Buck with him to get a change of clothes. "Do you want me to convince him to sleep in his own bed? Or I can sleep on the couch if you want the bed?"

"No." Buck says as he changes, takes a few deep breaths before turning back to Eddie. "Want you both close? If that's okay?" 

"Of course it is. I suggested it." Eddie teases, starts rearranging the bed and grabbing an extra blanket in case someone tries to hog his comforter. "And I'm here, when you want to talk. Or if you need a session tomorrow we can clear out and go grab food or something." 

"I'm not kicking you out of your own house." Buck grumbles, blushing as he crawls into the bed. 

"Here Bucky!" Chris chirps as he comes back into the room, passing him the water bottle before Eddie helps him up onto the bed. 

They get settled in, the Diaz boys bookending Buck, similar to their movie nights on the couch. Eddie forces himself to relax, works the breathing techniques he told Frank he didn't need, knows Buck won't relax if he feels like either of them are uncomfortable with him there. 

Buck tries to keep his sniffles quiet, presses kisses against Chris's scalp in a mirror of how Eddie often calms himself down. 

"It's okay to cry Buck." Chris tells him, and Eddie feels relief flood through his system. He remembers being Chris's age, remembers the way his father would tell him men don't cry. He can't help but wonder about Buck's parents, feels like he's trying to put a puzzle together without all the pieces or a reference picture. 

"Yea, it's okay to cry." Eddie brushes his hand against his son's curly hair. Buck was the one who told Eddie Chris needed to see him cry after Shannon. Remembers how his own voice had cracked as he told him he didn't know how to. 

"Dad always says it will feel better to talk about it. But only if you are ready." Chris says seriously, beams at his father, his eyes bright even with the small amount of moonlight peeking through the windows. Buck makes a noise in his throat, pulls Eddie's arm around them securely. 

"I love you." Buck says, readjusts to press a kiss to Chris's temple. "You have the best dad." Buck tells him and smirks when Eddie tenses against him. It's an argument they have often, Eddie constantly doubting himself and Buck reassuring him. "My parents -" Buck starts, looks at Eddie like Eddie has some secret answer on how to explain to Chris things Eddie barely knows himself. "When I was your age and I had a bad day I'd go to Maddie." He tells them, his voice barely above a whisper. Eddie brushes his fingers against his birthmark, watches as the tension eases out of his body. 

"We can share daddy." Chris tells him, and smiles as Buck laughs surprisingly. 

"I'm glad you came here." Eddie tells him. 

\-------

Eddie wakes first, almost pushed off the bed. Buck has his entire body pushed back against Eddie's, and when Eddie lifts his head enough to glance over his shoulder to check on Chris, he is spread across the majority of the bed. 

Buck wakes next, tensing up before he slowly relaxes back against the pillow they are now sharing. 

"Morning." Eddie whispers against his ear and Buck's head shoots up before he turns to look at Eddie with one eye squinted shut. "Sorry about the starfish. He didn't kick too much did he?" Eddie checks. 

"No, it was uh - nice?" Buck is blushing, turns his head into a pillow. "I'm sorry." He mumbles into the pillow, and Eddie's heart hurts. 

"Don't be." He presses a kiss against Buck's temple, runs his hand against his shoulder to try to get Buck to relax again. "We want you here." He promises. 

"I shouldn't have woken him." Buck says, head turned just enough towards Eddie so he can breathe. 

"It's good for him to know he isn't the only one who struggles." Eddie reminds him, using his own words against him. 

"Yea, yea, yea." Buck grumbles. 

"Buck." Eddie says seriously, waits as Buck readjusts so they can maintain eye contact. "We want you here. We - I want you to come to me when you are sad. Or happy. Or just whenever." 

"I've never -" Buck cuts himself off, reaches out to touch Eddie's chest, to feel his heart beat under his palm. "Maddie lied to me." He finally admits. Eddie bites back the questions he has, watches as Buck seems to count to himself silently as he thinks. "It's always been me and her against.. -" He looks back over his shoulder to check on Chris, takes a calming breath as he traces over his facial features. "She promised me we would be a united front, and I knew she was being weird, kept insisting I didn't need therapy.. that I had her." He scoffs gently to himself, finally lifts his eyes to look up at Eddie. 

"You have us." Eddie tells him seriously, wraps his fingers around Buck's and holds his hand against his skin. "That's not.. I'm glad you are seeing your therapist, but you know me and Chris are in your corner, always. Right?"

"Yea Eds." Buck squeezes his hand, "can we go make coffee? Talk where little man won't wake up and overhear?" 

"Of course." 

It takes a few minutes of careful maneuvering, but they tuck Chris in, each give him a soft kiss against his forehead before they tip toe towards the kitchen. The sun is just starting to rise, casting Eddie's house in light shades of yellow and pink. 

Eddie makes the coffee as Buck mumbles about pancakes, pulling the ingredients down to make the batter. Eventually he turns to lean back against the counter. 

"I had a brother." Buck says, a small amount of wonder in his voice. And Eddie's breath catches. "They never told me." Buck laughs, it's a harsh sound, so unlike his normal laugh. "His name was Daniel." He offers, slides down against the cabinets, leans his head up to try to catch his tears. Eddie gets up slowly, slides down so their shoulders are just barely touching. "My parents treated me like a disappointment." 

"Dios." Eddie gasps, pulls Buck against his side. Even the past few days when Buck talked about his parents, it was always in abstract terms, or things they said or he said. He had admitted he hated them for not protecting Maddie. But he hadn't said how he felt, and a part of Eddie knew, but it hurts him to hear. 

"I was a disappointment to them." Buck is laughing again, the sound thick with tears. "But I thought it was me? All these years. Maddie let me think it was me! But it wasn't!" 

"No kid deserves to be treated that way." Eddie tells him. Can't even wrap his head around treating Christopher the way Buck was treated. 

"They hated me for not being him." Buck whispers, like it's a secret. He sounds almost relieved, and it just breaks Eddie's heart even more. 

"My childhood, my entire life, I've been haunted by a ghost that I never even knew about." 

Eddie knows his fair share about ghosts. Can make a list of his own between the war and Shannon. 

They sit on the floor of the kitchen, watching as the sun rises over the neighboring houses. Eventually they hear the clicking of Chris's crutches and Eddie pulls Buck into a hug, distracts Chris with a good morning as Buck turns towards the stove and wipes his eyes. 

"Who wants pancakes?" Buck calls over his shoulder, let's the feeling of home wash over him as they cheer and Chris wraps his arms around him. 

Later Buck will video chat his therapist from Eddie's kitchen table. His therapist asks him if he feels safe and he will look up to Eddie folding laundry on the living room table and he will say yes, and believe it.

**Author's Note:**

> I've written a few stories this past week or so and will be uploading them when I have time/energy.


End file.
